


I See You, You See Me, Differently

by Holde_Maid



Category: Highlander (Movies), Highlander - All Media Types, Highlander: The Series
Genre: Challenge Response, Gen, Highlander Chronicles Challenge, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7812070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holde_Maid/pseuds/Holde_Maid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Methos and Annabeth meet yet again</p>
            </blockquote>





	I See You, You See Me, Differently

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [By My Side, You'll Never Be](https://archiveofourown.org/works/483829) by [Ithildin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithildin/pseuds/Ithildin). 



> Title: I See You, You See Me, Differently  
> Author: Holde_Maid aka Gerda  
> Challenge answered: Timestamp Challenge (HL_Chronicles group at Livejournal)  
> Characters/Pairings: Methos, Annabeth  
> Link to fanwork timestamped: Ith’s story “By My Side, You’ll Never Be”: http://www.ondragonswing.com/tales/neverbe.html  
> Rating: PG-13, due to the rating of the timestamped story
> 
> Author’s note: The story has been written in four stanzas of 125 words each. The title is taken from the same song lyrics as the title of the timestamped fic.  
> Highlander characters and universes are in no way mine, and I make no money off them - no infringement of anybody's rights nor any harm intended. Likewise, Annabeth is not my creation, but belongs to Ith.

Her hair had changed yet again. Once long and straight, then short and spiky, now long, though not as long as it had been, dyed to darker, less uniform shades of red, and in frills. But that superficial change left little impression, compared to that in her features. Kitsune, fox spirit, his pet name for her, still applied. But when calling her that the first time, he had thought of an ancient story in which a fox spirit is caught accidentally by a poor man, and they strike up an awkward friendship. But this time, Annabeth was not the hurt Kitsune, she was more of a … a mother fox. She had not gained more weight, but even so her features had softened. That changed everything.  
  
\----------  
  
For the first time, she saw him without bias. This time, she could see. She saw the weight on his shoulders. She saw that his eyes were layers and layers of veils. She saw the will-power that gave his step a spring that did not come naturally. She saw the posture that was solely a reflection of the role he had taken on, not of who he was. She saw how much of a stranger he really was.  
  
She saw that fear recoiled in his gut, and realized at last that it had always been there, hidden underneath the posture and gait of unassuming Adam, arrogant Daniel and their likes. He crouched to hide within those empty shells. She could see, and it changed everything.  
  
\----------  
  
He stood beside her at the bar. “So.”  
  
“Yeah.” She smiled. “Istanbul again. Funny. I assume it really is a coincidence?”  
  
“What else?”  
  
“It would be more flattering if you’d been so obsessed about me that you’d stayed here.”  
  
“Ah.” He shrugged. “Sorry.”  
  
“It would also be disquieting,” she offered with a chuckle.  
  
“I was obsessed enough to break off my engagement. Sort of. I…”  
  
At the shake of his head and the shrug of his shoulders, she nodded. “Bad habit, running off.”  
  
“It’s not a habit. The reasons were as different as light and dark.”  
  
“It is a habit. You habitually resort to the same solution in different situations. What were the reasons?”  
  
“I didn’t love her.”  
  
She waited, but he did not continue.  
  
\----------  
  
As he left, he wondered why everything was different all of a sudden. Was it his doing? Was it hers? Had he changed that much? Had she? He couldn’t pinpoint much change in her. She was still observant, still aggravating, still stubborn, still beautiful in her own Kitsune way. Equally, the electric current that ran back and forth between them, after a fashion, was still there.  
  
However, it had quite definitely gained a very different quality. There wasn’t more calm or patience, but … maybe you could call it tolerance. No. There was less need. Less desperation.  
  
Had it been his or her desperation…? Never mind. At any rate, they had not fought, and suddenly possibilities had opened up. Like being together. Which changed everything.


End file.
